“I hope to continue the life-saving progress made possible through clinical trials and research in Yorkshire.” – Jordan’s experience

Dr Jordan Appleyard is part of the next generation of cancer researchers in Yorkshire. His work with Yorkshire Cancer Research demonstrates the huge benefits of bringing vital expertise and talent to Yorkshire, so more people in the region can be among the first to benefit from groundbreaking cancer research.  

As a clinical researcher, Jordan divides his time between supporting people undergoing cancer treatment at St James’s University Hospital and contributing to world-leading bowel cancer research at the University of Leeds.  

Jordan explained: 

Originally from Sheffield, Jordan completed his undergraduate and master's degrees in Leeds before moving down to London to study medicine.  

He said: "I left Yorkshire for a little while, but I always knew I would come back! I love Yorkshire - the beautiful countryside, the rolling hills – and I was determined to work as a doctor here so I could help people in the region.”

Jordan fulfilled this ambition after qualifying as a doctor and returning to Yorkshire in 2021. He now works as an Academic Clinical Fellow at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, where a key part of his role involves discussing opportunities for people with bowel cancer to take part in innovative clinical trials.

This includes two major bowel cancer clinical trials, FOxTROT 2 and 3, funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and led by a pioneering team of researchers at the University of Leeds.  

As a member of the FOxTROT clinical trial team, Jordan is learning firsthand about the latest global developments in bowel cancer treatment.

The FOxTROT 2 and 3 bowel cancer research trials build on the success of FOxTROT 1, which showed giving chemotherapy before surgery can reduce complications from surgery and reduce the likelihood of cancer returning.  

Delivered at hospitals across Yorkshire and beyond, the new trials are now testing how this approach works for different groups of people with bowel cancer, including those over 70 or people with significant medical conditions, and finding out the best type of chemotherapy to use for those who are younger and fitter. The trials aim to show who benefits from receiving chemotherapy before surgery, and what the best type of chemotherapy combination is, helping more people with bowel cancer recover and reduce their risk of cancer coming back.

Jordan said: “The findings from the first FOxTROT trial are so rich, and we’re already seeing highly intriguing insights from FOxTROT 2 and 3. There’s huge potential for more cancer breakthroughs to happen right here in Yorkshire.”

Jordan traces his passion for innovative cancer research back to a meeting with the leader of the bowel cancer trials: Professor Jenny Seligmann, a Consultant Medical Oncologist and Professor of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the University of Leeds.

Yorkshire Cancer Research currently funds £75 million of groundbreaking cancer research and services, including 26 clinical trials, giving 182,000 people the opportunity to benefit from the latest cancer research innovations.

Jordan is keen to recognise the people who make this research possible: those who choose to take part in clinical trials.  

He said: “People who choose to take part in clinical trials know they may be exploring new approaches and stepping into the unknown. Their willingness to trial new treatments and approaches is often because they know they can help others. It is incredibly selfless, and so critical to the research we do. Participating in clinical trials saves future lives.”

Jordan’s family’s experience of cancer pushes him every day to make a difference to people with cancer as well as finish his Academic Clinical Fellowship at the University of Leeds.

Motivated to continue the legacy laid down by his team, Jordan is now pursuing a PhD, funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, to explore why some people don’t respond to bowel cancer treatment. He hopes to contribute to the charity’s mission to help more people in Yorkshire live longer, healthier, cancer-free lives.  

He said: "Becoming a clinical researcher isn’t an easy path. It’s so important to have supportive supervisors, like Jenny, who are paving the way for the next generation  of cancer researchers. Without them,  we wouldn’t have cancer research at all. "